


You Make Me Wanna Dance

by Daiya_Darko



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Implied Relationships, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-04
Updated: 2013-06-04
Packaged: 2017-12-13 22:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/829655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daiya_Darko/pseuds/Daiya_Darko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pavel is like Hikaru's own "tiny dancer" so to speak, and Kirk will go out of his way just to prove a point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Make Me Wanna Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Best accompanied with the song, "Make a New Dance Up" by Hey Ocean!

Hikaru doesn’t know that much about Pavel’s life on earth, but he does know when someone’s been dumped, and boy, did Pavel get _dumped._

He follows through the routine of navigator with an uncharacteristic sluggishness and the light in his eyes almost seems to be diminished. Hikaru feels for him – he really does. Break ups aren’t easy, no matter how old you are, and Hikaru remembers feeling like nothing would ever be good again in the world at that age.

“Hey man,” Hikaru hisses when there looks to be a lull in work.

Pavel sits up and tries not to look like he’s crumbling to bits. “Yes?”

“Did you talk to whatshername last night or something? You look like a tribble shit in your cereal.”

Pavel hides his laugh behind a fist and Hikaru grins. He can’t offer much comfort right here on the bridge, but he can try to alleviate the pain in little ways.

“Wanna eat lunch in the mess today instead of holed up in a Jeffreies tube or your quarters?”

Pavel smiles weakly and shrugs. “You do not have to go out of your way for me.”

“It’s not out of my way to eat lunch with a friend, Pavel,” Hikaru reaches over and playfully shoves him. He really does consider Pavel a friend. Their relationship extends beyond the helm and into quarters where they work together and attempt to share bits of their lives without the worry of keeping up appearances. In privacy, Pavel swears and drinks like a sailor. He brags about the fights he’s been in, although Hikaru isn’t one hundred percent sure of the validity of these statements since Pavel looks like he could get swept away on a light breeze.

“You two seem awfully friendly today,” Kirk chimes in, and Hikaru almost kicks himself. When Hikaru glances back, he sees the condescending smirk on Kirk’s face and has half a mind to retort with something witty. He doesn’t, because that would be insubordination and as far as Hikaru knows, the only person who can get away with blatant insubordination is Dr. McCoy.

Hikaru gives a short laugh and shakes his head. “No more friendly than usual, sir.” When he looks over at Pavel, he sees his friend blushing furiously at his knees and Hikaru can’t hold back any longer.

“No more friendly than say, you and Dr. McCoy.”

Kirk gives him a challenging smile. “What about me and Dr. McCoy?”

Hikaru shrugs. “I cannot confirm or deny the possibility that you have a special favor for Dr. McCoy that many have noticed, unless you have the sneaking suspicion that I have a special favor for Ensign Chekov.”

Now he’s just pushing things further than necessary, but Kirk gives him a smug nod. “What are people saying about me and Bones?”

Kirk knows good and well what people say about him and McCoy and Hikaru knows he knows because he occasionally entertains the rumors at the doctor’s expense.

But now Kirk looks as if he knows something Hikaru doesn’t, and wonders what people are saying about _him and Pavel, holy shit._

“You’re awfully friendly, is all,” Hikaru replies, narrowing his eyes at Kirk in a way that says, _when we’re off the bridge, when you and I are Jim and Hikaru, I’m giving you a piece of my mind. Leave the kid out of this._

Pavel is staring at him in confusion now.

Great.

 

* * *

 

“You’re a dick, Jim.”

Kirk laughs as he sits down at the table, and catches an apple that Hikaru throws at him in annoyance. Taking a bite, he mumbles through half-eaten fruit, “I can’t help it if people think you’ve got a thing for the kid.”

“He’s underage!”

“In space, there are no age of consent laws.”

“You’re disgusting,” Uhura says, sipping her juice. “Remind me never to leave you around any children.”

“I’m kidding!” Jim raises his hands in exasperation. He looks back to Hikaru and says, “I’m not saying it wouldn’t be cute. Clearly, Pavel’s got a thing for you.”

Hikaru snorts and looks around for Pavel. No sign yet.

“He doesn’t have a thing for me, alright? I think I would know.”

“You wouldn’t know it if he got on his knee and proposed to you.”

Hikaru sighs, shaking his head. “I am not entertaining this idea any further.” And then Kirk is staring up and past him, grinning.

“Hikaru?”

Hikaru chokes on his water and fights back the burn of humiliation as Kirk laughs at him. “Hey, Pavel. Come on, have a seat. Jim was just regaling me with tales of how McCoy managed to make him his bitch.”

“Nothing short of a few misjudged hypos to do the trick,” McCoy’s voice suddenly comes as he slides into the seat next to Jim. “Or would you say it’s my charming personality?”

“I’d definitely say the former, since the latter is an oxymoron for you,” Kirk grouses, prompting McCoy to smack him upside the head. He huffs and glares at Hikaru. “See what you’ve started?”

“I don’t care,” Hikaru smiles before checking on Pavel. He’s wide eyed in shock at seeing Kirk being so openly disrespected, and it makes his heart melt a little.

Pavel’s cute.

That’s all he’ll admit.

 

* * *

 

“So,” Hikaru begins when they get back to his room. “Did you enjoy lunch in the presence of other human beings?”

Pavel changes into a faded, grey athletic shirt from college and nods. “Yes, they are very entertaining. I did not think the captain was so…”

“Obscene? Rude? Perverse? Obnoxious?” Hikaru suggests grumpily.

“I was going to say ‘charismatic’ but those, I will not disagree. It seemed like he was getting on your nerves all day.”

Hikaru gives a short laugh and looks up from his PADD. “Yeah, he’s got a funny sense of humor. Likes to put you in uncomfortable situations while on duty just to pull rank on you. The man is a sadomasochist.”

“Now you are being overdramatic. Come, let us work out some of this stress we both seem to have.” Pavel claps his hands and motions for Hikaru to come stand by him across the room.

“Aw man, if I knew you wanted to work out, I would have brought a change of clothes,” Hikaru begins to apologize when Pavel begins playing music from his small stereo and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Grabbing Hikaru’s hands in his own, Pavel leads him to the center of the room and grinning, explains, “Did I ever tell you how Russians perfected the form of dance as stress relief?”

Hikaru laughs as he watches Pavel bounce around, waving his arms above his head and below his knees with a bright smile on his face. “No, you forgot to tell me that story.” The beat is light and catchy, a tune he’s never heard before, but Hikaru already is nodding his head, feeling the urge to join Pavel building up.

“I’ll tell you when we’re both too tired to keep dancing,” Pavel promises, and takes Hikaru’s hand to spin him. Hikaru indulges him, then pulls Pavel in and wrapping an arm around his waist, begins to do a cheesy waltz across the room as they both fight laughter.

It’s cute, okay, and yes a little more than friendly the way Hikaru is keeping Pavel’s body pressed to his, but hey, it’s just a little friendly dancing between friends.

At least that’s what Hikaru keeps telling himself every time he comes to Pavel’s room after a tiring day and needs to burn some energy. They dance for about an hour, wordlessly enjoying their own bodies as well as each other’s and making up new dances they name after their fellow officers. It’s a great way to get rid of resentment without actually saying something that could get them in trouble, and Hikaru isn’t ashamed to admit that he is _really_ growing fond of Pavel. The kid moves with such grace that even doing the silliest dances just makes him look damn adorable.

“You’re my precious, Russian ballerina,” Hikaru laughs as Pavel jumps into his arms and he lifts him above his head. “Man, you should forget about Starfleet and just join the ballet.”

Pavel giggles and Hikaru nearly wants to hug him and press kisses across his face.

God, when does this kid turn eighteen?

Hikaru decides he doesn’t really care when he doesn’t let Pavel go after setting him down. Instead, he brings his face close to his for a gentle kiss, and when Pavel squeaks with surprise, Hikaru rests his forehead against Pavel’s and sighs.

“It is physically impossible to be unhappy around you. Did you know that?”

“I’m often unhappy until I’m around you. Maybe the two are mutually inclusive?”

“I think more research is needed before we can make a conclusion,” Hikaru says, trying to sound as sexy as possible, but it’s hard to sound sexy when you’re making science metaphors.

Pavel leans up and kisses him again. “I agree. We should undergo extensive research and compile data to support our hypothesis.”

“And what is that, exactly?”

Pavel takes a step back and blushes. “If we are in a romantic relationship, then we cannot be unhappy.”

Hikaru decides he really likes that hypothesis and it doesn’t sound like it’s hard to prove.

 

* * *

 

Hikaru hates Kirk.

Like, _really_ hates Kirk.

Because Kirk became indignant when Pavel stopped joining them at lunch and stopped participating in friendly banter on the bridge with Hikaru, Jim decided to have a “morale booster” for the crew and throw a little soiree for everyone.

Kirk stared down Hikaru at the planning meeting and mouthed the words, “little Russian?”

Hikaru made a face and mouthed back, “he’s eighteen now.”

Kirk sat back in shock, then surprise and mischief spread over his face. “You’re dating?”

Hikaru scowled and blushed redder than Scotty’s shirt for the rest of the meeting.

Hikaru isn’t ashamed of dating Pavel, although they both agreed not to say anything to anyone until his birthday for legal reasons. No, Hikaru is just extremely private and hates people like Kirk who will either spread his business or make endless jokes.

The only things that make it better even in the slightest is seeing McCoy give Kirk shit for being a little shit and Spock just making Kirk’s life difficult.

And now they’re at what basically boils down to a dance, and Hikaru just wants to shoot himself out the nearest airlock. He hated dances in high school and he tries to avoid clubs as much as possible. The only place he’ll dance is in front of Pavel in the privacy of their respective quarters.

But Pavel is itching to leave his side and hit the empty dance floor as catchy music plays over the sound system, and Hikaru feels guilty. Pavel is waiting for him to make the first move, but Hikaru is also locked in an unspoken pissing contest with Kirk at the moment.

“If you are going to be stubborn, then I am going to introduce a manipulated variable,” Pavel huffs, handing Hikaru his drink and stalking off the dance floor. He immediately begins dancing, jerking his arms and hips in every which way, totally oblivious to the stares of everyone around him.

Hikaru feels like a dick, because Pavel looks like he’s really enjoying himself – alone.

Their “experiment” was supposed to test if they would be happy unconditionally without each other and now the results were _not_ looking in favor of their hypothesis.

“Wow, what a dork,” Kirk laughs, clapping Hikaru on the shoulder.

“He’s so young,” Uhura says, smiling softly. “He hasn’t got an ounce of shame in him.”

“Well, he’s a kid, Nyota. What do you expect?” McCoy adds.

Something in Hikaru snaps, and he shrugs off Kirk’s hand to set the drinks on a table. He walks out onto the floor with the look of a soldier going off to battle, and casting only one look behind him at his friends, Hikaru begins to dance.

And he _really_ dances.

Pavel finally notices him and grins so brightly that Hikaru just wants to lie down and bask in its glow. They dance, and finally, Hikaru feels the tenseness in his shoulders begin to evaporate. He’s having fun, genuinely enjoying himself, and best of all, he’s doing it with Pavel in front of _everyone._

Yeah, there will be talk, but Hikaru decides he doesn’t care because at that moment, Marcus is dancing next to him, giving him her cheekiest smile. Hikaru nearly sighs with relief and looks around in surprise as others slowly begin to join them on the dance floor.

Even Kirk is trying to coax McCoy onto the dance floor, and Spock is watching Uhura in an attempt to understand just exactly _what the hell is going on?_

Hikaru doesn’t know. Frankly, it doesn’t matter. Pavel wraps his arms around Hikaru’s neck and kisses his cheek sweetly, and Hikaru forgets about everything and everyone else in that moment as they move with the music.

There’s only here and now and the love for the sound.


End file.
